Ash box

ABSTRACT

An ash box for safely collecting smoking ash having a top and bottom surface that are substantially parallel. The top surface of the ash box has an aperture which is covered by a grating to permit smoking waste to enter the ash box, but also preventing children and pets from accessing the smoking waste. The ash box has an openable drawer collects the smoking waste that enters via the aperture, and the collected smoking waste can be removed by opening the drawer.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a smoking-waste receptacle and, moreparticularly, to a smoking-waste receptacle adapted for a residence.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Smoking-waste receptacles are often provided in residential and publicspaces so that smokers can dispose of smoking waste, e.g., cigaretteash, cigar ash, lit cigarettes or cigars, and cigarette or cigar butts.However, conventional smoking-waste receptacles have numerousshortcomings.

For instance, the smoking-waste receptacles commonly found in publicspaces are generally too large for residential use.

The typical smoking-waste receptacles found in homes are generally avariation of a plate, i.e., the conventional ashtray. Such ashtrays areprone to being accidentally tipped or flipped over, dispersing thesmoking-waste where it is not desired. Additionally, such conventionalashtrays permit one to inadvertently put one hand or fingers into theashes. If the residence has a pet such as a dog or cat, the animal mighteat or play with the ashes. Additionally, young children may alsodisperse smoking-waste from a conventional ashtray.

Furthermore, conventional ashtrays may not add to the decor of thesmoker's residence.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one embodiment of the present invention, a receptacle for a smoker'sashes is formed from a hollow prism. The hollow prism can have anyshape, such as a rectangular prism, a square prism, a circular prism, anelliptical prism, a pentagonal prism, a hexagonal prism, and anoctagonal prism.

The hollow prism has a top surface joined to a first edge of a sidewall, and a second edge of said side wall is joined to a bottom surface.The top and bottom surfaces are substantially parallel. Additionally, toprevent the hollow prism from being inadvertently tipped over, theshortest distance separating a point on said top surface from a point onsaid bottom surfaces (i.e., the height of the side wall) is less thanthe greatest distance separating a first point on said side wall from asecond point on said side wall (e.g., the longest diagonal of the topsurface).

In preferred embodiments, the hollow prism is made of a material that isfire retardant under the conditions found in a fire that is burningpaper and tobacco. For instance, preferred materials for themanufacturer of the hollow prism include metals, such as iron, copper,aluminium, stainless steel; and thermoplastics having a fire retardantcomponent such as antimony trioxide dispersed throughout.

The top surface of said prism having an aperture connecting the exteriorof said hollow prism to its interior. The aperture can have any shapeand has an area of between about 0.5 square inches and about 16 squareinches. Joined to the top surface (either above or below the topsurface), and positioned adjacent to the aperture, is a grating or mesh.

The grating or mesh has a plurality of openings. These openings may beuniformly sized, or they may multiple different sizes. The openings insaid grating or mesh are sized from about 0.01 [⅛×⅛ inch] square inchesto about 0.15 [⅜×⅜ inch] square inches.

The grating or mesh is joined to said top surface of said prism in amanner effective to limit access to the interior of said prism via thetop surface aperture to objects having a cross-sectional area of lessthan about 0.15 square inches. This sizing is to prevent fingers orother parts of small children and pets from acing the smoking waste inthe ash box.

The side wall includes a drawer that can slide in, and out, of theinterior of said hollow prism. This drawer is configured so that when itis closed, it is positioned below said aperture in said top surface tocollect anything that passes through said aperture. When the drawer isclosed, the exterior surface of said drawer is preferably substantiallyflush with the exterior of said side wall. The drawer openssubstantially perpendicular to a side wall to permit access to, andremoval of, the smoking waste that has accumulated in said drawer.

In a further preferred embodiment, the drawer holds a removable tray tocollect the smoking waste and make remove of the smoking waste easier.

In another preferred embodiment, the interior of the hollow prism has aninclined surface attached to an interior surface of said side wall thatterminates above said drawer, and removable tray if any, to guide thesmoking waste to the center of the drawer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

The accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale,illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a front view of an embodiment of the ash box of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the embodiment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the embodiment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a view of a side and the front of the embodiment of FIG. 1with the drawer opened.

FIG. 5 is a view of a side and the front of the embodiment of FIG. 1with the drawer fully removed.

FIG. 6 shows a drawer and a removable tray.

FIG. 7 is a front view of the embodiment of the ash box of FIG. 1showing where cross-sectional view 8 is taken.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the embodiment of the ash box ofFIG. 1 taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 shows an embodiment of the ash box with an external container forstorage.

FIG. 10 illustrates a removable grating.

FIG. 11 illustrates an alternative removable grating.

FIG. 12 illustrates a tilt sensor and flap for preventing thesmoking-waste from spilling out if the smoking-waste receptacle istipped over.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present inventions now will be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which some, but not allembodiments of the inventions are shown. Indeed, these inventions may beembodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limitedto the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments areprovided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legalrequirements. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

Many modifications and other embodiments of the inventions set forthherein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which theseinventions pertain having the benefit of the teachings presented in theforegoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is tobe understood that the inventions are not to be limited to the specificembodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments areintended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a genericand descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

FIGS. 1 through 5 show a first preferred embodiment of smoking-wastereceptacle 1 according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, the hollowprism of smoking-waste receptacle 1 is a rectangular prism. Top surface8 of smoking-waste receptacle 1 has aperture 10 through whichsmoking-waste (not shown) can pass from the exterior of smoking-wastereceptacle 1 into the interior thereof. To prevent children and petsfrom accessing the smoking-waste inside smoking-waste receptacle 1 viaaperture 10, aperture 10 is covered by a grating 15.

Aperture 10 preferably has a size of between about 0.5 square inches andabout 16 square inches. More preferably aperture 10 has a size ofbetween about 1 square inches and about 9 square inches, and still morepreferably aperture 10 has a size of between about 1.5 square inches andabout 6.25 square inches.

Grating 15 provides a plurality of openings through which smoking-wastecan pass into smoking-waste receptacle 1 while preventing children andpets from accessing the smoking-waste inside smoking-waste receptacle 1.The openings in grating 15 generally range in size from about 0.01 [⅛×⅛inch] square inches to about 0.15 [⅜×⅜ inch] square inches. Morepreferably the openings in grating 15 have a size of between about 0.03square inches and about 0.1 square inches.

To ensure the stability of smoking-waste receptacle 1, the shortestdistance separating a point on said top surface from a point on saidbottom surfaces (i.e., the height of smoking-waste receptacle 1) is lessthan the greatest distance separating a first point on said side wallfrom a second point on said side wall (a measure of the width ofsmoking-waste receptacle 1.

Smoking-waste receptacle 1 has a drawer 40 in side wall 35. Drawer 40 isslidably mounted in said smoking-receptacle 1. Preferably, when drawer40 is closed, the exterior of drawer 40 is flush with the exterior ofside wall 35. In a preferred embodiment, drawer 40 has a locking meansthat prevents drawer 40 from being opened by a child or pet. Forinstance, the locking means might include a rotatable bar mounted abovedrawer 40 that prevents drawer 40 from opening unless the bar is rotatedout of the path of drawer 40 path of movement when opening.Alternatively, the locking means might include one or more pins insertedthrough side wall 35 and into drawer 40 to prevent its opening. In afurther alternative embodiment, the locking means might include anelectro magnet that when turned off by an application on the user'sphone, permits drawer 40 to be opened.

FIG. 6 illustrates removable tray 50 that can be placed in drawer 40 tosimplify the removal of smoking-waste from smoking-waste receptacle 1.

FIG. 7 with its line 7-7 shows where the cross-sectional illustration ofFIG. 8 was taken.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional illustration of a preferred embodiment ofsmoking-waste receptacle 1. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, interiorinclined walls 55 guide the smoking-waste to the center of the interiorof smoking-waste receptacle 1.

FIG. 9 shows an embodiment of smoking-waste receptacle 1 that has anexternal container 75 attached to the ash box for storage of smokingrelated supplies. For instance, a user might store their package ofcigarettes and matches in container 75. While container 75 is shown inFIG. 9 attached to the top surface of smoking-waste receptacle 1, in analternative embodiment, container 75 could be attached to the side wall.

FIG. 10 illustrates an embodiment of grating 15. In some embodiments,grating 15 is removable. For instance, grating 15 could include aplurality of magnets that secure grating 15 to the underside of the topsurface of the smoking-waste receptacle 1. Alternatively, the topsurface of grating 15 could have a thread that matches with a thread onthe underside of the top surface of smoking-waste receptacle 1.

FIG. 11 illustrates an alternative embodiment of grating 15 which has anenlarged opening to accommodate a cigar stub.

In a still further alternative embodiment of smoking-waste receptacle 1two, or more, grating 15 are mounted so that the user can rotate theirchoice in grating 15 into position below aperture 10.

In another embodiment of smoking-waste receptacle 1, there is a tiltsensor in smoking-waste receptacle 1 that detects if smoking-wastereceptacle 1 has been substantially tipped, i.e., by for example 45°.The tilt sensor can be either electronic (e.g., an inclinometer) ormechanical (e.g., a weight on a narrow shelf). When the tilt sensor isactivated, it causes a flap to cover the aperture in the smoking-wastereceptacle 1 to prevent the contents from leaving the receptacle.

FIG. 12 illustrates the interior of smoking-waste receptacle 1 havingtilt sensor 90 in communication with flap 95 by link 97. When tiltsensor 90 is activated, link 97 pulls flap 95 over aperture 10 to coveraperture 10 and prevent the smoking-waste from spilling out ofsmoking-waste receptacle 1.

What I claim is:
 1. A receptacle for a smoker's ashes comprising: ahollow prism having: a top surface joined to a first edge of a sidewall, a second edge of said side wall is joined to a bottom surface,wherein said top and bottom surfaces are substantially parallel and theshortest distance separating a point on said top surface from a point onsaid bottom surfaces is less than the greatest distance separating afirst point on said side wall from a second point on said side wall,said top surface of said prism having an aperture connecting theexterior of said hollow prism to its interior, said aperture having anarea of between about 0.5 square inches and about 16 square inches, anda grating joined to said top surface of said prism in a manner effectiveto limit access to the interior of said prism to objects having across-sectional area of less than about 0.15 square inches, and saidside wall includes a drawer slidingly coupled to the interior of saidhollow prism, the drawer being configured to: (1) when closed, bepositioned below said aperture in said top surface so as to collectanything that passes through said grating, and the exterior surface ofsaid drawer is substantially flush with the exterior of said side wall,and (2) when extend to open in a direction away from said side wall. 2.The receptacle of claim 1 in which said prism has the shape of a memberof the group consisting of a rectangular prism, a square prism, acircular prism, an elliptical prism, a pentagonal prism, a hexagonalprism, and an octagonal prism.
 3. The receptacle of claim 1 furthercomprising a lock that when engaged prevents the opening of said drawer.4. The receptacle of claim 1 further comprising a tray configured to fitin said drawer and to be removable.
 5. The receptacle of claim 1 furthercomprising an interior wall joined to the interior of said side wallnear where said side wall is joined to said top surface, said interiorwall being inclined in a manner to guide anything that passes throughsaid grating to said drawer.
 6. The receptacle of claim 1 furthercomprising an exterior compartment suitable to contain at least onemember of the group consisting of cigarettes, matches, a lighter, and acombination thereof.
 7. The receptacle of claim 1 further comprising aremovable grating connection so that the grading can be manuallychanged.
 8. The receptacle of claim 1 further comprising a plurality ofgratings that can be rotated into or out of position about saidaperture.
 9. The receptacle of claim 1 further comprising a grating thatcan be rotated, and held, out of position.
 10. The receptacle of claim 1further comprising: a tilt sensor; and a sealing flap.
 11. Thereceptacle of claim 10 wherein said tilt sensor comprises an electronictilt sensor.
 12. The receptacle of claim 10 where in said tilt sensor ismechanical.